AW's Game Collection 2.0

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Adventure Island

As a steadfast classic from the Nintendo days, I actually have a lot of love for the Adventure Island franchise. Unfortunately my enjoyment with these games tends to crumble under the weight of their difficulty which is often ingrained in many of these early side-scrollers. Thankfully, Aliens in Paradise (a port of the third NES game) eases the burden with a good password and continue system.

Baku Baku

Breath of Fire

Curious as it sounds, as important as Breath of Fire II is to me it's an experience I can't quite defend. This is not to insinuate it that it is a bad game in any sense of the word but my love of the game is not proportionate to what it offers due to the specter known as nostalgia. Unflattering as the cliche has become this really was a case of playing through the game at the right time.

As the original, standalone release for Yuko Takehara's musical contribution to the role-playing game Breath of Fire II, this is one of those soundtracks that I have to play devil's advocate with. I can't deny that Takehara's themes were a integral part of my experience with the game but at the same time her work is simply outgunned by her contemporaries in the competing products of its time.

I'm often conflicted when it comes to a game like Breath of Fire III. I can't begin to deny that this is a well-crafted game (and quite possibly the best game in the franchise) but I can not help but feel it's overly concerned with preserving where role-playing games have been rather than where they need to go. Unfortunately, the game's low difficulty level leaves something to be desired as well.

I'm probably not telling anyone anything they don't already know concerning this particular guide, but Prima's effort for Breath of Fire III is pretty infamous due to the error concerning a battle with the stallion brothers Balio and Sunder. Outside of containing this small side-note in Breath of Fire history, almost nothing in this guide is of value aside from the two pages covering the acquirable enemy skills.

As silly as it seems, after all these years I am still kind of mad at SCEA for not allowing Capcom to release the PSP port of Breath of Fire III in the states. I get it, a Breath of Fire game isn't going to sell gangbusters or push as many copies as a Final Fantasy or Square Enix game, but I honestly feel the game deserved another go around even though the PSP is already home to a million PS1 ports.

An impressive item whose attractiveness is somewhat limited by its gargantuan size and availability the Breath of Fire Original Soundtrack Special Box is an 11 disc box containing *almost* all of the music from the games that have graced the franchise. Unfortunately, the Special Box is out-of-print (and resells at very high prices) and to me a significant portion of the music works better in context.

Blunt as the following may be I am a still a little miffed about this artbook. Like some others I didn't think Capcom was going to allow Udon to bring this over to the states, so I went and purchased the Japanese rendition. Then a few months later, unbeknownst to me, Udon released a localized version which I purchased since there is actually a lot of text. I really hate double-dipping on things.

Castlevania (Classic)

My introduction to Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge was somewhat atypical as I was first introduced to the game's soundtrack through the second Dracula Best release. However, as astounding as the music was, it was only a simple prelude because I was blown away when I got to experience the game itself. I'm not the biggest fan of old-school Castlevania but I give this one a big thumbs up :)

Adding to the parade of great titles the console's known for, Castlevania IV does an excellent job of showing off the enhanced capabilities of the Super NES at an important juncture. Personally I find the title to be more approachable than most of its predecessors since the experience it offers is streamlined and many of the cheap shots and situations have been ironed out of the underlying formula.

A two-disc set with the scores from Castlevania: The Adventure, Castlevania II: Belmont's Revenge and Super Castlevania IV, Demon Castle Dracula Best 2 has the music from some of the franchise's best outings on the GameBoy and Super Nintendo. I'm not really big on listening to IV out of context and The Adventure is a little weak but if you want old-school CV tunes this is the way to go.

Castlevania (Metroidvania)

As odd as it may sound Symphony of the Night is a game that has been lauded to the point of exhaustion. This doesn't mean I am sick of the game and do not want to play it again like Final Fantasy VII, but I can't help but feel fans have a hard time letting this game (and the gameplay style it cultivated and borrowed) speak for itself. Symphony's far from the be all, end all of Castlevania to me.

Like most of the wall scrolls that end up in the hands of western game fans, I'm pretty sure this scroll is unofficial since it contains no copyright information. If I would happen to run across a licensed version, that more-or-less uses the exact same artwork, I'd definitely upgrade and replace it so it'd be a more official part of my collection.

Circle of the Moon is that rare Castlevania game that doesn't exactly know what it wants to be. The overall difficulty level makes it feel like the game wants one of its feet planted in the old-school games of the past while the formula brought over from Symphony of the Night simply fights against that idea at every turn. I don't exactly hate the game but I wish it would just pick a side and stick with it.

While Circle of the Moon doesn't know if it wants to take influence from the old-school titles or Symphony's Metroidvania style and feels strained because of its indecision, Harmony makes a decision and sticks with it. However, in doing this it gambles with so many of its elements that the result, while not quite horrible, is just odd. Unsurprisingly, these curiosities become the face of the game itself.

When you are honest about it, it's kind of odd how Harmony of Dissoance got a strategy guide and Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow didn't. I can't help but believe that Aria was the strongest Castlevania game on the GameBoy Advance so none of the major publishers writing a guide for that one is bizarre. However, what isn't weird and is downright curious is how much this particular guide costs.

While my opinion of Aria of Sorrow has changed a bit over the years the degree of that change is probably more substantial than I'd ever admit. I've always felt that Aria was the best of the three Castlevania games on the GameBoy Advance but it wasn't until playing the remaining games on the Nintendo DS that I began to feel it was the best follow-up to the acclaimed Symphony of the Night.

Lament of Innocence is a game that I can't help but feel sorry for. I'm not going to sit here and defend it like it's a flawless masterpiece, but when you consider it did the whole 3D Castlevania thing better than two Nintendo 64 games I think a little more recognition is warranted. Last but certainly not least, Lament came out a year-and-a-half before God of War, so no, it didn't just copy that game.

As some might expect I acquired this strategy guide after completing the game, but I can't deny how useful this would have been when trying to do that. I can't really say that Lament of Innocence is the most complex game I've played, yet there were a few instances where the game sent me scrambling for a keyboard because my brain wasn't clicking with something that was insanely obvious.

As the sequel to Aria of Sorrow, I guess the nicest thing I could say about Dawn of Sorrow is that it works, but at the same time it doesn't because it only seems to reinforce the fact that I find the original game to be superior. That's not quite the kiss of death the above makes it out to be yet unlike its predecessor, Dawn of Sorrow's issues are easy to identify.

While I'm not telling anyone anything they don't already know, most of the time strategy guides limbo under the bar of greatness. Fantastic guides are often few and far in-between and finding those worth your time and money is hard. In this case Double Jump's work on Dawn of Sorrow makes that hunt for that quality a reality. If you want a great guide for this game do not fear, just buy it already!

Even though it may not be as odd as Harmony of Dissonance was on the Game Boy Advance years earlier, Curse of Darkness is still a strikingly odd game. As an experience that should be left in disarray when all its shortcomings become apparent it manages to work... for some ungodly reason. It's that kind of thing that can't really be explained and needs to be experienced to be understood.

Again, as unflattering of a cliche as it is going to become this is another guide I obtained after playing the game which is unfortunate because there are actually many game play elements of Curse of Darkness (crafting, enemy steal windows and Innocent Devil evolutions) that are complex enough where having that data in front of you in a organized manner would be quite the Godsend.

Curious as it may sound, it's actually kind of hard to think of what I should say about this soundtrack. I don't want to insinuate that it's a departure from other scores in the franchise (at least those composed by Yamane) but fans of those experiences will definitely notice that the music in Curse of Darkness attempts to differentiate itself in some ways, succeeding and failing to various degrees.

Like the Alucard Symphony of the Night Wall Scroll above, it's pretty clear that this one of Hector from Curse of Darkness is also a bootleg. However, I kind of love this piece of artwork because when you really look at it you'll soon realize that Ayami Kojima got the proportions of Hector's body completely wrong. It is almost like his head was shrunk with pixie dust like the movie Beetlejuice.

I have to be honest with this one, I'm not very big on manga or anime but I was interested in acquiring these two volumes of the Curse of Darkness manga since they cover events that unfold prior to the game. If you're wondering why I deem this to be important the game and its manual doesn't build up Hector's quest for revenge very well nor does it really give Hector much of a personality.

I have to be honest with this one, I'm not very big on manga or anime but I was interested in acquiring these two volumes of the Curse of Darkness manga since they cover events that unfold prior to the game. If you're wondering why I deem this to be important the game and its manual doesn't build up Hector's quest for revenge very well nor does it really give Hector much of a personality.

Unlike most of the other Castlevania titles on this list, my opinion of Portrait of Ruin has unfortunately fallen a few pegs since I last wrote about it. For a while it felt like it was the strongest entry in the series since Symphony of the Night, but when I replayed Aria of Sorrow I knew that wasn't true. Also hurting Ruin is the games' final battle which is just a bunch of (expletive) any way you slice it.

When it comes to Portrait of Ruin I'll admit there was a few times where having a guide would have come in pretty handy since, like other Metroidvanias, there is a pretty big catch if you want the best ending. However, while on the subject of obtaining the best ending, was I the only person that was starting to get sick of the whole you need x equipped during fight y to trigger key event z thing?

Castlevania (Lords of Shadow)

Mirror of Fate is one of those games where I don't really know where my loyalty lies. I had a fine enough time with the game and thought it was a solid product, but when I saw so many people dismissing it for what seemed to be somehwhat spiteful reasons, I think I became more fond of it out of pity rather than its own merits. The only way I'm going to figure this out it to replay it at a later point.

Cave Story

As unfair as it seems, Cave Story 3D kind of gets a small jump in the favoritism department from me because it started out as an indie title. I know it should not matter where a game comes from as long as it's good, but I was very unfamiliar with what was coming out of the indie scene prior to playing this one and I have to thank it for showing me that there are people making old ideas new again.

Contra

Unlike other franchises that saw their first game on the Nintendo Entertainment System, Contra is that franchise that tends to get a free pass when it comes to its overall difficulty because it's not the result of poor design and mechanics; it was part of the experience from the outset and the games that followed had no problem reinforcing that. If you're looking for mercy don't expect to find it here.

Crash Bandicoot

When it comes to Crash Bandicoot 2 there's a number of things to say, but most of those things can be summed up by stating that this sequel is a quantum leap over its predecessor. While the game mercilessly obliterating what it's based on does make me happy, I can't say the experience here is problem free. Ever so often Crash 2 forgets to be kinder than the original which can be real annoying.

The third time is the charm for everybody's favorite Bandicoot! I can't really say it enough, Crash 3 is an amazing side-scroller that works even when it attempts to incorporate new gameplay styles at such a late hour. It is of little surprise to me that Naughty Dog wanted to move on after this and CTR but the big surprise here is the time trails (something I'd typically hate) end up being awesome.

Aside from learning how to access some of the game's secret areas and finding a few hard-to-find boxes in certain levels, I don't remember looking at strategy guides for Warped online that often. As is often the case I managed to nab this guide after replaying the game so I can't really attest to its quality but strategy guides for side-scrollers seem less important then they are for other genres.

Devil May Cry

I know a rather sizeable portion of people will outright state that Devil May Cry 4 shouldn't be one's first experience with the franchise, but at the same time it is geared to be just that. Unfortunately, while it does succeed in extending out its hand in invitation the game's insanely obvious production problems do their part in derailing an experience that would otherwise be extremely solid.

As odd as it sounds the next time I play through Devil May Cry 4 I plan on using this guide because, when I am honest about it, this is one game I really suck at. It goes without saying that I could use some help even though playing the game is how you get better at it. However, that said, the combat in Devil May Cry 4 is much deeper than the control scheme would initially lead one to believe.

Diablo

As odd as it may seem, the original Diablo is a game that I owe an apology to. I let my nostalgia filled memories of the second game cloud my judgment that the first game had little overall merit other than being the obvious starting point for the franchise. That is an insanely shortsighted view that I now know is a fallacy. Yes, the second game is much better but the original game still holds clout.

I have to be honest about this one. In all the years since Diablo II's release I've never played Diablo II without the expansion pack. Not once. In a certain sense I don't think I'd want to. When you really look at it Lord of Destruction added so many features to the game that I just don't think I could ever revert back, even if it was done in attempt to gain knowledge of the pre-expansion experience.

Given that Diablo II is an online game that was updated and patched throughout the years, it is no surprise that guides for games like these ultimately become a moot point. It is true that some subjects (general strategies) don't change much but anything based on numbers is probably wrong by this point. That said, often times it is fun to read this one to see how things were back in the original build.

Originally bundled with the collector's edition of Diablo II, some might be caught off guard with this selection since I'm not a big fan of ambient music. I can't say that Matt Uelmen's score makes me think twice about my aversions towards that style in general, but I can't deny that these tracks (especially the pieces for the game's first act) fit the experience like a glove.

Given that it's the only online game I've ever spent a significant amount of time playing, I'm obviously very biased when it comes to Lord of Destruction. Yet the high opinion I have of it has been challenged by time and improvements to this formula seen in more recent games like Torchlight II. Obviously, you can't take away what Lord of Destruction did in its heyday but the torch has been passed.

Disney Infinity

I am probably going to piss off fans of the Marvel universe with this one, but I really love Groot even though I know absolutely nothing about the character. I know that's on me but there is something about this Disney Infinity figure that makes it very intriguing and I think it has to do with how reserved Groot looks compared to how he does in action scenes in the movie.

Donkey Kong Country

I'm sure some are wondering where the original Donkey Kong Country is hiding on this list. Well, to make a long story short it is not hiding because it's simply not in my collection since I can't get into that one for some reason. I can't help but think that Diddy's Kong Quest does everything bigger and better anyway so its gets the nod as my favorite. I mean it introduced Dixie Kong, 'nuff said :P

Even though it doesn't reach the level set by the previous game (mainly due to Kiddy Kong) Dixie Kong's Double Trouble is still a more than worthy addition to the Super Nintendo Donkey Kong trilogy and again blows the original out of the water which is all I could ask for. When I was young I wanted a copy of Diddy's Kong Quest but could only find copies of this which was a fine substitute.

Donkey Kong Land

The first Donkey Kong Land is one of those cases where one game benefits due to my dissatisfaction with another. I'm not a very big fan of the original Donkey Kong Country on the Super Nintendo (I enjoy its two follow-ups much more) but Donkey Kong Land contains the spark that is absent from that title even though it comes dangerously close to consuming itself by the end of the game.

While some may question the overall validility of my lament, it's a shame that the GameBoy Advance ports of the Super Nintendo Donkey Kong Country titles have completely overshadowed the existence of the Land trilogy in the eyes of most. Once you consider what you will get out of Donkey Kong Land III versus what you'll spend to acquire it the whole thing feels like a steal.

Doom

While I wasn't aware of Doom back when it was clogging computer networks in late 1993, I can't help but feel that Doom is a game that somewhat transcends time due to its excellent design philosophy. The experience within also dodges the fact that even after all these years I still can't quite nail down the controls. I've always fought against them but I love the underlying game regardless.

The only official recording that pays tribute to Robert Prince's contribution to id's PC phenomena, Doom Music is an item that is alluring when taken at face value but is more divisive than most will expect. The experience isn't a quantum leap over what one hears in-game and when you combine that reality with the price tag, overall rarity and bare-bones presentation it really is kind of a niche item.

As you can see if you look at the original list, I have stripped my collection down significantly over the last year and a half. I'm not really sure why I felt the need to do that... but a lot of those games felt rather superfluous in nature. I sold quite a few of them to my friends who are also collectors... but I gave them good deals on the stuff as I wasn't looking to make a mint off them even though I could have given how some of the prices and values have spiked lately.

Additionally, I tried to keep my overall thoughts on the items limited to five lines a piece. I did this to challenge myself and in an attempt to keep things concise.

If you have any questions about the items included... or why I feel the way I do about a certain item... feel free to drop me a line.